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As the brief requires I propose for the digital aspects of the branding/design, I'm researching into Apps. Apps are everywhere, they're one of the highest grossing markets of the 21st century. I will look at a range of Apps, to determine how people use them, what they have in common, what hasn't been done before, and what works, and what doesn't.

Recently, Apple updated their iOS to iOS 7, which works slightly differently to iOS6, but what it has also done is pushed the quality of previous Application designers and developers, keeping to the much more sophisticated level of design. The gradients and gloss shines have disappeared, buttons now are clean, simple. Using Apple's signature font for iOS7 Helvetica Neue. Consistent colours, quite a limited amount of which, actually, and clear icons.

App Designs

Nappkin is an app for a german restaurant. It adopts the iOS7 style within it's design. A limited colour palette. Clean, simple design and navigation. Not cluttered in the slightest. I think this app works well because it's clear what it is, you can navigate your way around the app extremely quickly. It contains the opening times, menu and location. Which is exactly what you need in every app in 2013.

Arles Festival. A three colour simply designed app. By removing the clutter, it's made the function clear and usable. Professional, providing a service. Pictograms to communicate the information to make the navigation easier.

The Forq app really shows the scope and diversity which you can include in an app. The consistent range of colour throughout. The colour range in the UI is also fairly limited, mainly working with the blue and the orange. The clean and simple navigation helps find what you need quickly and easily.

Starbucks app, which works with iOS to offer touch-pay, using a top up system and QR-Code scanner. Which is a really modern way of paying, digitising the old physical Starbucks card. It also works on a royalty system, offering points which are stored on the card, which you can cash in for a free drink. It also uses Apple Maps to locate their stores, so their regulars can find the closest store. Finally, there's a menu. The Starbucks App doesn't really fit with the conventions and the theme of iOS 7. It uses the gradients which were common in iOS 6.

Designed by Lavernia & Cienfuegos | Country: Spain “The brief was to bring to life the principle ingredient, preferably through the use photo-realistic images, with something that adds a touch of good humor before serving.

Designed by Pearlfisher | Country: United Kingdom. If only all supermarket own-brands had packaging that looked this good…

Designed by Peter Urban | Country: Denmark. Nice concept work by 21 year old Peter Urban from Copenhagen. Showing a large range of consistent branding.

Designed by Hardhat Design | Country: United Kingdom. Coffee Supreme’s take-out cups were already known in NZ and Australia for being unusual, distinctive and quirky, so while we knew from our re-brand brief that they wanted the brand to ‘grow up’, we felt it was important they didn’t lose their individuality.

Table Water & In-house Beverages

Designed by Designers Anonymous | Country: United Kingdom “We designed refillable water bottles for use during meetings held in our studio. Our bottles feature a simple silhouette of a boat (in-keeping with our brand styling) the boat was a natural fit for a water bottle. On the still water bottle It’s anchored and stationary; for sparkling water, the propeller creates bubbles.”

Designed by Jessica Haas | Country: United States “This was a school assignment in Packaging 101. The project was to design a beverage of your choice and the challenge was hat you’re limited to only one color. We the lack of 4 color imagery I was forced to utilize the color of the beverage itself. A few people in my class were doing juice so I moved to a more fun option, a cocktail mix which allowed me to experiment with different bottle shapes. The Boston round had a great feel to it and was calling out for typography. I decided to keep it simple and just use type but my professor felt it needed some sort of appetite appeal. I finished the assignment off with a small illustration of a lemon slice which I think really makes the piece eye catching.”

Designed by Diane Von Furstenberg | Country: United States “Diane Von Furstenberg & Evian® have partnered to design the latest limited edition bottle, which reflects a playful celebration of life. For the collaboration, DVF drew inspiration from her personal relationship with evian water and her own love of life: ”

Designed by Morgan Sterns | Country: United States “The Restored water identity and packaging concept was strongly influenced by the process of taking highly treated wastewater that would have previously been discharged into the Pacific Ocean and purifying it using a three-step advanced treatment process. My main objective was to create a brand that would be a blueprint for water agencies throughout the world in order to help solve local water supply issues.

Designed by Studio h | Country: United Kingdom “Studio h has created award-winning brand and packaging design for Aigua de Vilajuïga, naturally sparkling mineral water from the heart of Catalonia’s de Creus Natural Park since 1904, and famed for being Salvador Dali’s favourite water. Tasked with reviving this historic Catalan water brand by re-positioning it as a limited edition water for the global market, the Dali connection was taken as the inspiration for the unique brand personality.”

Designed by Cadena + Asociados Branding | Country: Mexico “Casa del Agua is an artesian bottled water boutique based in Mexico City. Water is the center piece of any ecosystem, making better water is making a better us. Water is the main conductor of energy, its molecules are sensitive to human intention. Our water is collected, filtered and purified on site, that´s why we called it local water. We stimulate water with our basic values: love, gratitude, and respect, therefore it reaches its highest potential. Simple and clear. Our water is craft bottled in a calm environment.”

This project defines various aspects that concern those elements of communication, through its naming, voice and visual communication throughout. Within this are the brand’s signature (symbols, logo, typography), institutional colors, palettes and patterns, labels, and packaging among others.

Take Away Wrapping

Designed by Cécile Dumetier | Country: France. “Branding and packaging for a brand of Tofu. The objective is to westernize this product and to encourage people to include it in their daily meals. To do so, a few recipes are included on the packaging.”

Designed by Gianluca Camillini | Country: Italy. “The logo that I’ve designed is from a primitive sign found in a paleolitic cavern in Val Camonica (Italy). I’ve created a texture with my logo to cover all of SAN FAUSTINO’s products.”

Designed by Base Design | Country: Belgium. “With values rooted in the past but a business plan oriented toward the future, Dandoy asked Base Design in 2011 to modernize and rethink its visual identity, packaging range and website. The main questions to solve were “How do you transform a small-scale, local family business into a global family brand, without losing the image of local craftsmanship and true tradition?” and “How to reach a broader audience?”.

To establish and idea of what I'll be creating, I've decided to research into some restaurant branding. The branding of a restaurant is key, it's the first impression. You need to communicate what the product is about, who's it for and it's function.Dear Me Brasserie & Deli brand identity by Daniel Ting Chong

The branding throughout this restaurant is vast, there is a set colour scheme throughout, with the logo acting as a constant signature across all the stationary and the labelling. The design of the logo is very clear, it's simple, not complex at all, almost catchy. It's bold, it stands out amongst the rest of the content on the items, such as on the website or on the labels or stationary. I think this is a really good example of how branding and colour can be applied throughout a large range of products.

The idea of creating some branding using an unconventional medium as the stock for the collateral. For the products which don't use the wood as the stock, the designer has used the brownish colour scheme, to suggest the wooden quality, which runs as a theme throughout the branding - giving it a sort of organic feel.

I think the branding throughout this restaurant is really thorough, it shows how well and consistently you can apply a brand throughout an establishment in a really creative way. The No Smoking sign is really creative, and it fits really well, showing it's relevance in it's application to the branding.

The above example is the branding for Pasta restaurant 'Nonna Rossa'. The scope of how their branding is applied is fantastic, it really shows a large range of ways just even a logo can be applied, how far it can be taken. I also celebrate how the designer has crafted the SS from the shape of pasta twists, showing the synergy between the design and the product.